


But You Said

by Lisamc21



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Flufftober, M/M, Teasing, stevie is a great friend, trolling as a love language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:34:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26781469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lisamc21/pseuds/Lisamc21
Summary: This fic is for day 3 of "Flufftober" with the prompt: "But you said."It's a different take on how David and Patrick could have had their first date. One with a bit more trolling and a bit more romance. Though they may get to their first kiss differently, I stuck with the canon of Ronnie not liking Patrick because that shit always cracks me up.
Relationships: Patrick Brewer/David Rose
Comments: 25
Kudos: 116





	But You Said

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:**
> 
> "But you said"
> 
> Apologies for typos and clunkiness! This was a quick write and even quicker edit/read-through.

“Thanks for visiting Rose Apothecary. Have a rosy day!” Patrick waved the pair of customers off.

As soon as the door closed, David rounded on Patrick. “Nope. We’re _not_ doing ‘rosy day.’ I refuse to allow you to bastardize my name.” Was his business partner trying to give him an ulcer? 

Patrick turned behind the register to face David. He looked up with innocent eyes and a sweet smile. The kind of expression most people would have considered benign, but David knew better. He knew all of Patrick’s facial expressions, well, most of them. None of the bedroom ones, anyway. Those were the ones he’d still like to learn. “Forget your rose-colored glasses at home today?”

David’s nostrils flared. “I think it’s time we revisit that partnership agreement. I’d like to add a clause.”

“Good! You’re ready to concede the plungers belong at the front of the store? Yes, let’s ink that into the agreement. They have a great margin.”

“You’re on thin ice, mister.”

Patrick clutched his chest. “A sports reference? Oh, David, I can’t believe you rose to my level.”

He looked to the ceiling and prayed for patience. Not for the patience to deal with Patrick, but to not kiss the smirk off his sassy face.

“Jocelyn said it to me the other day and I thought it was adorable.” The corner of Patrick’s mouth quirked almost imperceptibly. 

“Adorable.” David stepped closer to Patrick, crossing his arms over his chest and crowding him a little behind the counter. Partly to be intimidating, but mostly for a reason to stand close to him. David’s life had turned desperate enough to look for moments to simply be close to his (probably straight) business partner. They’d shared so much the past couple of months, but David hadn’t found the nerve to ask about his sexual preferences. That would lead to questions of why David was asking and that would mean he’d have to tell Patrick how he felt about him and then Patrick would let him down easy and David would die from embarrassment and Patrick wouldn’t be able to maintain the aesthetic standards of the store after David’s demise. 

It was much easier to daydream about what could be than get shut down and lose that hope. 

“Yes, David, adorable. You see, it’s a pun on your name.”

David threw his hands in the air. “You’re unbelievable! Have you been spending time with Ted?”

Patrick shrugged. “I see him at the gym.” His cheeks reddened a bit.

David zeroed in like a shark smelling chum. “ _Oh._ At the gym? Are you his spotter?”

Patrick crossed his arms and matched David’s stance. “I mean, sometimes.”

David almost giggled at how uncomfortable Patrick looked. He tried to keep his face neutral, but he could feel his face doing its thing. Biting his lips between his teeth, he did his best to stop his smile, but he knew his dimples were on full display. “So, he works out.”

“That’s typically what you do at a gym, yes.”

“Well, I might need to join this gym.” Seeing Patrick and Ted working out would make it almost worth it. Was Patrick a sweatpants or basketball shorts kind of guy? T-shirt or sweatshirt? Hmm.

The side of Patrick’s mouth twitched as he gave David a quick once-over. Slow enough to make it clear what he was doing, but fast enough seem a bit shy. Very on brand for Patrick. “I could spot you.”

David gave a slow once-over of Patrick’s arms. “Could you?” He damn near sweated through his cashmere sweater. Incorrect.

The door bell chimed. Patrick grinned and pressed a hand on David’s bicep as he passed him. David’s knees nearly gave out at Patrick’s gentle squeeze. If David flexed a little, he’d never admit it in court.

“Welcome to Rose Apothecary. How can I help you?”

David watched Patrick nonchalantly approach the woman who walked in as though he wasn’t the teensiest affected by their flirting, because that _had_ to be flirting. Real, official flirting. They’d danced along and sometimes over the line of flirting more and more as they worked together, but David had successfully convinced himself they were two good friends teasing each other. That it only felt like flirting to David because of his feelings for Patrick, which almost certainly weren’t reciprocated no matter Stevie’s name-calling.

David pulled his phone from his pocket and launched his messaging app.

I think Patrick just flirted with me.   
  


Thank you for this evergreen text. He flirts with you all the fucking time.  
  


No. He teases me all the time.  
  


JFC David. We are not going through this again.   
  


What did he say?  
  


He said he’d spot me at the gym.  
  


Like see you or lean over you while you’re bench pressing and catch the bar before it decapitates you while you’re distracted by his muscles?  
  


The latter.  
  


Hot.  
  


Couldn’t you just ask him if he’s straight and tell me what he says? Consider it a birthday and holiday gift.  
  


What makes you think I plan to give you any gifts this year?  
  


Ugh. You’re the worst.  
  


The door chimed again and Ronnie strode in. “Hey Ronnie, what can I do for you?”

She grimaced as she spotted Patrick. “I need to send a birthday gift to my mom. Fifty dollar cap.”

David grinned and moved around the counter toward Ronnie. “Are you thinking more along the lines of beauty products or home things like candles?” He’d get her up to seventy-five bucks.

###

Patrick smiled politely at Ronnie as he led his customer over to the cash. “Ronnie.”

“Patrick,” she scowled. He wished he knew what he’d done to piss her off so much. No one had blatantly disliked him before, and it usually put him in a bad mood. But not today because today David had _definitely_ flirted with him. The way David’s eyes studied his arms, that, okay, Patrick may have flexed a little, was… direct.

Patrick rang up the customer’s purchase and called out for the woman to have a rosy day and did his best to smile innocently as soon as David’s head snapped in his direction. 

“New tagline? I don’t like it.” Ronnie shook her head. “Sounds like something Jocelyn would say.”

“ _Thank you,_ Ronnie,” David said in his faux cheerful tone as he smirked at Patrick. “I’m not fond of it either.”

Patrick had never had more fun teasing someone before. Getting David riled up was intoxicating. He studied David’s reactions more closely than he’d studied for the GRE, and he knew exactly what buttons to push to get the reactions he wanted. His current obsession was figuring out how riled up he could get David in other scenarios. He spent most evenings dreaming of being with David. Envisioning what it would be like to go home with him at the end of the day. Surely their banter would translate to the bedroom with incredible results. Settle store arguments with sex or chores. Sneak into the back between customers to kiss a little.

He wanted a sign. Something clear to tell him it was worth the risk. That he could make a move without threatening everything he and David had built together. From what he’d gathered of David’s past, for all of his confidence in some areas, he was slow to trust and didn’t value himself as much as he should. He would never expect David to make the first move because he knew David loved what they’d built and wouldn’t want to risk it. He needed to show David he was worth the risk. That they were worth the risk.

If only he had a sign.

Patrick drummed his thumb along the counter as a light on David’s phone caught his attention.

I’m not going to do your dirty work and ask Patrick if he’s straight. Stop obsessing over it and ask. It’s not a big deal.  
  


And if you two idiots don’t figure your shit out and quit pining over each other, I’m out. There isn’t enough wine and weed in the world for me to keep listening to you obsess over whether or not Patrick likes you back. This isn’t high school. Just. Fucking. Ask. Him.  
  


Patrick read and re-read as fast as he could until the screen went dark. His knuckles turned white as he clutched the counter. David liked him back? Oh, God. David _liked_ him. Like-liked him? He turned and went in the back room before David could tell something was wrong. He needed time to think. David liked him.

David Rose liked him!

Patrick heartbeat pounded in his ears. He’d asked for a sign and sure as hell got one. No way he could let it pass now. He breathed deeply to try and calm down until his heart rate slowed enough to hear David and Ronnie talking on the other side of the curtain. 

How would he make a move? Pull him into a kiss when Ronnie left? Admit he accidentally saw Stevie’s texts? Ask him to a moderately edible dinner at Cafe Tropical? Sing him a song? Blurt out that he’s gay and really into tall men with dark, swoopy hair and a ridiculous sweater collection?

No, he needed something more. A romantic gesture like in the rom-coms David loved. Something to show David that he was serious about him, about them taking the risk.

He needed Stevie.

“David, I’m going to run home. You okay for a bit?”

David frowned. “Yeah. You okay?”

“Yup.” He smiled and waved as he walked out the door and drove to the motel.

He probably should’ve walked so the other Roses didn’t see his car, but he was on a time crunch.

Patrick opened the office door and sighed in relief at seeing Stevie instead of Mr. Rose.

“Everything okay?” Stevie sat her book down. “You look… intense.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “I feel intense.” He dropped onto the couch across from the reception desk. “I accidentally saw a couple of your texts a few minutes ago because David left his phone on the counter while helping Ronnie. The screen lit up with the last one you sent.”

Stevie’s eyes went wide for a moment before her mouth curved into a delighted grin. “See anything good?”

Patrick let out a hollow laugh. “You could definitely say that.” He scratched at a frayed thread in the seam outside his thigh. “I’m not going to ask you to break David’s confidence by telling me whether or not he has feelings for me.”

“Good because I wouldn’t do that.” She leveled a glare that had him squirming on the ancient couch cushion.

“I know. So, I’m going to tell you a couple of things about me.” He stared at her and couldn’t shake the feeling that Stevie held his heart, and future with David, in her hands. David trusted her implicitly, and he needed Stevie’s help. He needed her to be on his team for this. On Team David and Patrick.

“I’m listening.”

He looked around. “Are we, um, alone?”

She nodded. “Mr. Rose is in one of the rooms.”

Patrick let out a breath. “I’m gay.”

“Okay.” She smiled at him. 

“Okay.” He smiled back. He hadn’t said that to anyone else yet, but damn it felt good to say aloud. “And I have feelings for David. A lot of feelings.”

“Exasperation? Annoyance? Despair? Fashion confusion?”

He chuckled. “Fondness. Adoration. A hell of a lot of like. I’m head over heels for him.”

If smugness had a look, it would be Stevie’s face in that moment. 

“And I want to plan a date for him. I need your help.”

“Fucking finally. What do you need me to do?”

Patrick leaned forward and grinned. “Here’s what I’m thinking.”

###

David glanced down at his phone again. He’d sent Stevie a series of middle finger emoji, but silence. She was probably ignoring him or helping a guest (snort). He knew he was a pining pain in the ass, but it wasn’t as easy as Stevie made it out to be. David wasn’t used to people being nice and he’d do whatever it took to keep Patrick being nice to him. Even if that meant keeping his feelings for his business partner locked in a box.

A voice nagged at him and it sounded too much like Alexis. _If you don’t take a chance, someone else will snatch that button up. What if it works out and you could be happy together?_

Since when did something in David’s life work out the way he’d wanted. _What about Rose Apothecary? That’s, like, working out fine._

He needed to get the hell out of that motel. Too much time around his sister had tinged the sound of his inner monologue and it was _not_ cool.

Maybe he could ask Patrick to see a movie or something. Something casual, not-a-date but maybe-a-date. A scenario where he could see the vibe and maybe it could end up being a date? Their hands brushing together as they both go for the popcorn. He could orchestrate a moment. One small enough that Patrick could brush off or make more if there was actually something between them.

“Hey, sorry about that.” Patrick handed a pastry bag and cup to David. “Penance for abandoning you with Ronnie.”

David smiled at the cup. “She was quite pleasant after you left.”

Patrick snorted. 

“Thank you.” He took a tentative sip as he tried to build the nerve to ask Patrick out. “I was wondering—“

“Do you mind if—“

They both laughed. “You go ahead.” David gestured for Patrick to go.

Patrick’s cheeks tinged pink. “Do you mind if I leave an hour early today?”

David raised an eyebrow. Patrick never asked to leave early. “Of course not. Whatever you need. Everything okay?” The last time he had left early was to have a pre-cancerous mole removed, and David had spent the afternoon and next three days freaking the fuck until the results came back. 

“Yup. Everything’s fine.” Patrick looked down at his tea.

Weird. “Got a hot date or something?” David laughed until he noticed Patrick wasn’t laughing along with him. “Oh.”

Patrick cleared his throat and glanced up at David. “Um, yeah. I have a date. I have a couple things I wanted to take care of first, but I can stay if you need—“

David waved a hand and fought the urge to throw up the sips of coffee and half a muffin he’d just inhaled. “No, nope. I’ll be fine. Enjoy your date.” He managed a half-hearted shoulder shimmy. Fuck. Fuck! He’d waited too long and someone snatched Patrick up. Because why wouldn’t they? He was charming and thoughtful and considerate and brilliant and sassy and sexy as—

“Thanks, David. I’ll just go run last week’s numbers.” Patrick walked around the counter where David stood. David pressed himself against the counter to give Patrick as wide a berth as he could manage. Patrick’s hand reached out to brush David’s waist like he often did when moving past him, but he snatched it back at the wider-than-usual distance between them. 

Fuck.

“Yeah, yup. Okay. I’ll just, um, be here.” He gritted his teeth to stop them from chattering and pressed his thumbnails into his forefingers as hard as he could to distract himself from the tears threatening to fall. 

It was a date. No big deal. Maybe it wasn’t anything serious. A casual thing. Someone asking Patrick out and he was too polite to turn them down. A pity date. Probably the bank teller taking a shine to the cutie in the button-ups who always waited politely in the queue and asked about (his? her? their?) day. A pity date that Patrick—the uber professional business guy who tried to come back to work when he had the stomach flu because he felt guilty about leaving David alone—was ditching work early to “take care of things” for.

What kind of things did he need to take care of? Preparing some romantic dinner? Moisturizing his body? Oh God, what if he was going to bottom prep. Nope. No. He wasn’t going there. The crescent marks in David’s fingers would be there for a week at this rate.

I waited too long. Patrick has a date tonight. [series of sobbing emoji]  
  


Come to mine once you close. Dinner, wine and weed on me.  
  


You’re the best.  
  


You have no idea. It’ll be okay.  
  


David gnawed on his bottom lip as he threw the rest of the muffin in the trash. He’d be lucky to keep anything down, and there was no need to tempt fate.

The next couple of hours were a fucking brutal challenge of self control. He did everything in his power to not cry or beg Patrick not to go or beg him to go out with David instead. 

Once again, he’d fucked up. He’d gotten in his own way and maybe lost the best thing that had ever happened to him. If the universe could give him another chance, he wouldn’t screw it up. He’d move beyond his fear and tell Patrick how he feels because Patrick deserved the truth and David deserved a chance.

“You okay, David?”

“What? Hmm?” He blinked at Patrick. “I’m fine.” Pulling on his three-ish decades experience as a Rose, he used his most convincing fake smile. The one he’d used to get through “The Number” at the annual Christmas party and when meeting handsy and unhappily married middle-aged women at gallery openings. “Just thinking about cheese.” Really? That’s the first thing that came to mind?

Patrick chuckled fondly. Always so goddamned fond. A fondness about to be directed at someone other than David. UGH. “A worthy subject to muse over. Well, I’m going to head out. I’ll, uh, see you later?” He walked backward to the front door like he’s trying to draw out David’s torture. _Hey David, look at me, I’m going on a date with someone who isn’t you because you were too much of a chicken-shit to make a move. You snooze, you loose, business partner and never anything more!_

“Enjoy your date.” He’d intended to sound breezy, but he failed. Hard. 

Patrick’s smile faltered. “I know I will.” He gave David a meaningful look. Fuck! Twist the knife a little harder.

“Mmkay. Bye-bye.” He looked down at his phone. The screen wasn’t even on, but he couldn’t look at Patrick for another second.

David started cleaning up before the store closed so he could get out of there as fast as possible. He’d rather spend the evening crossfaded and pining over Patrick than sober and catastrophizing. 

When he made it back to the hotel, Stevie came out of the office to meet him. “You look like shit. Go freshen up.”

“Why? I don’t need to impress you to get access to your weed, do I?”

She shrugged. “We’re going to Elmdale for dinner. Weed and wine after.”

He grimaced. “Elmdale? Why?”

“The good pizza place that doesn’t deliver out here. Figured you could use it.”

He huffed out a breath. “Okay, fine. I’ll make myself presentable so I don’t embarrass you or your raggedy flannel.”

“I thank you for your generosity as I have an image to uphold,” she yelled after him as he closed his door.

David put some extra care into fixing his hair and selected one of his favorite sweaters. The bold, white lightning bolt across his chest was an attention getter. If he was going to eat his weight in pizza, he’d damn sure look great doing it.

“I’m ready,” he said by greeting when he pulled open the office door.

“Let’s go.” Stevie threw the strap of her messenger bag over her shoulder. “One rule. No talking about Patrick until after I have food in my stomach.”

David rolled his eyes. “Fine.” Probably better off that way so he didn’t ruin his appetite again. Once he got talking about it, he probably wouldn’t stop and he didn’t need townies throwing looks at him as he sobbed in a booth with marinara sauce on his chin and cheese dangling from his mouth. 

Stevie did her best to keep him occupied during the long drive with stories about his dad’s and Roland’s shenanigans and arguments. He almost forgot why he was upset by the time they reached the “Welcome to Elmdale” sign. Almost. Okay, like, forty percent forgot while the other sixty percent had envisioned every possible scenario of Patrick’s date with a faceless and genderless human.

“You really like him, don’t you?” Stevie asked as she parallel parked her shitty car in front of the best pizza restaurant in Elm County.

He spun the ring on his forefinger. “I really do. I feel sick about his date. It was so stupid of me to miss my chance.”

She turned the car off and turned to stare at him. Her expression was hard but eyes soft. “It was stupid of you. Promise me you won’t miss your chance again.”

The familiar burn tickled at the corner of his eyes. “If I’m lucky enough to get another one? I promise.”

“You deserve to be happy, David, and you need to stop talking yourself out of it.”

He let out a breath and nodded once. “I’ll try.”

She opened her door and he followed suit. She tapped on her phone while he held the restaurant’s door open for her. 

“Party of two?” A young woman smiled widely at them. The kind of smile that didn’t know the heartache of possibly missing the chance at being with someone wonderful because you were too much of a wuss to tell said person how you felt. To be young and innocent.

“We’re meeting someone. Thanks.” Stevie strode past the hostess like she owned the place.

David frowned. “Um, we are? I’m not exactly comfortable blubbering over my dinner with some random. Stevie, wait!” He tried to keep up with her. For having short legs, she sure moved fast as she bobbed and weaved around four-tops with screaming kids and young couples. She navigated them to a set of booths tucked back in a corner. 

David froze at the sight of familiar shoulders in a department store navy blue blazer. “Patrick?!”

“Oops, I forgot. I have somewhere to be,” Stevie said in a deadpan voice. “Darn. Patrick, can you take him home?” She jerked a thumb at David.

“Um, excuse me, you are not going to pawn me off on him. He’s on a date! I’m not crashing a date,” he whisper-pleads.

“You’re so fucking stupid sometimes. It’s a good thing you’re pretty. Sit your ass down and talk to him.” Stevie pushed him toward Patrick, who looked up at him with those earnest eyes and soft smile.

“Thanks, Stevie. Swing by tomorrow for some wine. My treat,” Patrick calls.

David turned to see Stevie’s back as she strode out of the restaurant and waving a hand over her head.

“David, please sit.” Patrick gestured to the opposite side of the booth.

His legs moved him over and he dropped onto the cracked leather seat. He couldn’t get his brain to process what was happening. “But you said you had a date?”

###

Patrick squeezed his thighs to stop himself from reaching over and grabbing David’s hands. He looked confused and like he’d bolt at any sudden movements. An appropriate sweater choice for the occasion. “I did say that, yes.”

David frowned and a cute wrinkle creased the perfect skin of his forehead. “So, why am I here? I’m not chaperoning a date like we’re in some Jane Austen movie.” His right hand swirled near his head, and his silver rings caught the fluorescent lights above them. The restaurant was tacky, but it had the best pizza in the area and he knew how much David liked his pizza.

“You’re not into role playing a Jane Austen scene? I bet you’d look great in a cravat and tailed coat. I can do a decent posh British accent.”

David’s expressive eyebrows somehow managed to bunch together even closer. He was adorable when flustered. “Obviously I’d look great in that. Wait, you can?” His eyebrows relaxed for a moment, but quickly bunched together again as he gave his head a shake.

“David.”

“Yes?” He sounded mostly exasperated but maybe (hopefully) a little amused too.

“David, will you go on a date with me?”

David’s mouth opened and closed several times before he managed a whispered “what?”

Patrick swallowed. Bases were loaded and he was at bat. Time to hit the home run so he placed his hand on the table, palm up. “I’d like to take you on a date to a pizza restaurant. I know how much you love pizza. Are you free, um, now?”

David stared at Patrick’s hand like it would bite him, but Patrick could wait him out. He’d wait forever for David. “Did your other date cancel or…?”

“I think you know there was no other date.”

David’s attention snapped to him, and his mouth curved slowly, ever so slowly, into a full smile. “Do I?”

“There’s only you.” He willed his face to show David everything he hadn’t had the nerve to express in words. But he would. He wouldn’t squander any more time.

Tentatively, David reached out and placed his hand on Patrick’s, wrapping his long fingers around the edge and rubbing his thumb on the heel. Patrick smiled as he stared down at their hands. 

“You’d better be buying because this afternoon was literal torture. Imagining you on a date with some other person? I’m legit mad at you.” His now-relaxed posture belied any bite of his words.

“Oh? Are you mad that I finally made a move and asked you out? Aww, you gonna be okay?”

Patrick’s stomach swooped at the sight of David tucking his smile into the side of his mouth. “I’m not sure yet. We’ll see how I feel after some pizza. How did you rope Stevie into this?”

The moment of truth. He had to trust that David wouldn’t get pissed and leave at Patrick’s unintentional invasion of privacy. “Please don’t be mad.” He tightened his grip on David’s hand.

“Great start to a date,” David mumbled, but he didn’t try to pull his hand away.

“I accidentally saw a couple of texts from Stevie when you were helping Ronnie.” He paused because he could see David’s mind racing.

“Um, texts about… “

“Me. Us.”

David grimaced. “That’s awkward.”

Patrick shrugged. “I suppose it would have been awkward if it hadn’t led me to fleeing our place of business so I could go tell Stevie I have feelings for you, that I’m gay, that I couldn’t go another day without you knowing how I feel, and ask her to help me pull off a grand romantic gesture.”

He sat back and watched the show on David’s face.

“I- you-“ David huffed out a breath. “You’re gay?”

The tension in Patrick’s shoulders slowly released. “That’s what you want to start with from that list?”

“Hi gentlemen, what can I get you?” A teenage girl smacked her gum and poised a pen over her pad. 

“Your choice.” 

David grinned. “A large meat lovers with green peppers on half. Two of your garlic dipping sauces. And an order of garlic knots.” He looked at Patrick as though seeking approval, and Patrick nodded. But then David glanced briefly at Patrick’s mouth and holy damn. “Um, actually, cancel the garlic sauce and knots. Pesto sauce and cheese bread, please. House red for me. Thank you.”

“I’ll take any IPA. Thanks.” Patrick handed the server his unused menu.

Once the server left, Patrick looked down at their hands, still clasped. “No garlic, huh?” He couldn’t stop his grin.

“I had an upset stomach earlier and I don’t want to set it off.” David bit the corner of his mouth, and Patrick wanted to lean over and kiss his dimple.

“I sure hope all the greasy meat and cheese doesn’t bother your sensitive stomach.”

“Mm. Me too. So, you were about to tell me about being gay?”

Patrick laughed. “Was I?”

David nodded seriously.

“Stevie was the first person I said it aloud to, actually.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah.” Nerves wrapped around Patrick’s stomach and began to tighten. He looked deep into David’s entrancing eyes. “I’m not experimenting. I know I’m gay, but it’s a recent revelation for me. I want you to know this isn’t a phase or anything.” He squeezed David’s hand.

David tilted his head and studied him. Patrick let it happen and hoped to God David found what he was looking for. “I’m glad you have a better understanding of yourself. It’s never too late for that, you know. How do you feel?” He squeezed Patrick’s hand back. 

That simple act of empathy knocked the breath from Patrick’s lungs. “Good. I feel good. And, um, I think I really needed to hear that. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” David smiled softly at him for a moment before it shifted into his default teasing smirk. “How recent of a revelation is this?”

Patrick could play coy. He could try for aloof and casual and not too interested. Or, he could be himself and go for broke. Grand romantic gesture, right?

“A couple months ago.”

David’s thumb switched to counterclockwise rotations on the heel of Patrick’s hand. “What happened a couple of months ago?” David’s eyes twinkled. David knew, but he was going to make Patrick say it. He’d happily say it a thousand times to keep David smiling like that.

“How about I show you?” Patrick reluctantly pulled his hand back from David so he could pull his wallet out of his back pocket. With shaking fingers, he opened it and pulled a small slip of paper from one of the protective plastic pouches. It had been there since the day he met David. He handed it to David.

David gasped. “You- you kept it?” He held the small ticket with care and reverence. “I can’t believe you kept this. Why?”

The server returned with their drinks and appetizer. They sat untouched as David stared at the ticket, and Patrick stared at David. 

“When I met you that day, things clicked for me. I’d never felt comfortable in previous relationships like I should. Or at least, not like my friends said they did in theirs. I was even engaged for a while and that especially never felt right.”

David’s eyes widened. “To a woman?”

Patrick nodded. “It was safe and comfortable so I stayed in it. I thought the next milestone would make all my questions go away, but after I proposed, I started having panic attacks. I knew it was wrong, but not why.”

David carefully handed the ticket back to Patrick, and he put it back in its safe spot. “Is that why you came to Schitt’s Creek?”

Patrick nodded. “I needed a fresh start, just like I told you. I’m sorry I didn’t give you all the details before.”

David waved his concern away as he took a bite of bread. “You’re telling me now.” He shrugged.

“I started to suspect that I was maybe bi, at least. Distance from Rachel gave me space to reflect on our relationship and why it didn’t work. And then I met you.”

“Boom? Fireworks? Gay awakening? Immediate and raging boner?” David flashed his self-deprecating smirk.

“Actually yeah.”

David’s chewing slowed. “Wait, really?”

Patrick shrugged. “You walked in and time sort of stopped for me. I felt a jolt when you shook my hand. I wanted to tease you and make you laugh so I could see more of your facial expressions.” He was already going, so why stop there? “I imagined kissing you and, um, stuff.” His face went hot under David’s knowing smile. “So, yeah, you were my gay awakening, or at least gay confirmation. Because when I met you, and especially as I got to know you, I realized I felt things about you that I’d never felt about a woman. So, yeah, definitely not bi or pan.”

“Jesus Christ, Patrick. That’s some admission.”

The nerves returned. “A good one or?”

David held up his wine glass. “The best one. To gay confirmations and grand romantic gestures and business partners who accidentally snoop on phones and make an effort while others are too damn scared.”

“That’s a bit of a mouthful. How about, to us?”

David released a full smile and the impact of it knocked Patrick back against the booth. “To us.”

They held eye contact as they took sips of their drinks.

“I think you were also going to tell me about these feelings you have for me?”

Patrick arched an eyebrow. “I’ve talked a lot. Super parched. Your turn.”

David rolled his eyes, but still managed a sideways smile. “You know how we spoke over each other earlier when you said you needed to leave early today?”

Patrick nodded.

“Which, by the way, making me think you were on a date with someone else was fucking cruel.”

“I didn’t make you think anything. You jumped to a conclusion.”

David tilted his head back and squeezed his eyes closed. He released a harsh breath. “You’re ridiculous and you’re going to pay for that evil omission later.”

Blood rushed to Patrick’s groin at the prospect of David making him pay for anything.

“ _Anyway._ I was about to ask you out.”

Patrick coughed on the swallow of beer. “You were?”

He shrugged.

“What did you have in mind?”

David smiled to himself as he picked at the corner of a napkin. “I was going to invite you to a movie and reach for the popcorn at the same time as you to see what the vibe was like.”

Patrick laughed. “The vibe?”

David glared at him and waved his hands near his head. “You know, the vibe! See if there was any sort of romantic vibe there. Like if you grabbed my hand or let your fingers linger or pressed your leg against mine.”

“That’s a lot of pressure on me. Did you think about just telling me it’s a date invitation?”

David gaped at him. “Um, no.”

“Good thing I saw Stevie’s texts then, huh?”

David bit his lips between his teeth. “Mmhmm. Definitely a good thing.”

The server dropped off their pizza. “Thanks for getting green peppers.” He loved green peppers on his pizza. Sometimes he forgot how observant David was when it came to people he cared about.

###

David Rose was on a date with Patrick Brewer.

On a date. Together. David and Patrick.

They were nearly done with their pizza and it was finally starting to sink in. He’d walk into work tomorrow and be dating his business partner. 

The best thing about a date with Patrick was the absence of questioning where the night would go and how awkward it would be later. He already knew Patrick liked him and they’d talk in the morning. No uncomfortable post-hook-up conversations or sneaking out in the middle of the night. Simply two men who liked each other, and have been pining hardcore for each other, finally on a date.

A date Patrick left work to get ready for. So sweet. Wait. “Wait, why did you need to leave the store early today? Not that I don’t appreciate you treating me to my favorite pizza in the area, but?” He flushed as he glanced down at the bit of table covering Patrick’s lap. Nope. He would not imagine Patrick doing any sort of bottoming prep. There was no way Patrick would move that fast. He was too calculated and David wouldn’t allow them to move too fast with how new Patrick was to dating men. And, okay, it was new to realize that sometimes surprises didn’t have anything to do with sex. 

“The date doesn’t end when pizza does. Patience, David.”

“Um, have you met me?”

Patrick arched an eyebrow. Not as practiced as David’s own eyebrow dexterity, but he was getting better. “If you’ve been interested in me for as long as you claim, I’d say you’re more patient than you give yourself credit for.”

“Is patient what we’re calling that?”

“It’s nicer than ‘stupid.’”

David snorted. “You’re right. Let’s go with patient.”

“Shall we take the rest of this to go?”

David nodded. He wanted to see what else Patrick had planned. 

After paying the dinner and getting their remaining slices in a to-go box, they stood from the table and David intertwined his fingers with the hand Patrick offered. He was holding hands with Patrick and walking through a restaurant. In public. Like a couple (gasp!) Dreams really do come true.

“I need to grab something from my car. I’m parked over here.”

David followed Patrick. Frankly, he’d follow the man anywhere. Feigning composed patience, he stood near the hood of Patrick’s car and watched his business partner but maybe someday (soon?) boyfriend (?) rummage in the trunk and come back with an honest-to-God picnic basket. “Got a red-checkered blanket?”

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out.” David nearly experienced cardiac arrest at the deadly combination of Patrick’s easy grin and hand held out for David to take.

“Then let’s go find out.” He happily took Patrick’s hand and intertwined their fingers. He sighed or maybe Patrick did.

Patrick led them down a couple of blocks to a park. Several families and a gaggle of kids crowded around a play structure. A half dozen people crowded around a picnic table under a gazebo while several other small groups were scattered at other picnic tables or lounging on the grass.

“Is the picnic table by the pond okay?”

David smiled at the ducks floating. “Perfect.”

Patrick placed the picnic basket on the table and pulled out several red-and-white checkered placemats. He laid one on a bench and the other two on the table. “That’s to keep your pants clean.”

How could one person be so thoughtful? “That’s incredibly considerate. Thank you.” He smiled shyly at Patrick. No one showed David that much care. No one until Patrick, anyway. He settled onto the hard bench and rested his chin on his clasped fingers as Patrick unpacked the basket. 

“Are you up for some cheap red wine?”

“Um, always.” David grinned as Patrick opened a small twist-top bottle of grocery store wine and dumped it into a to go coffee cup. “Do the coffee cups have significance?”

“A trick I learned in college. It’s easier to get away with drinking booze in public if it’s hidden in a coffee cup.”

“Why Patrick Brewer, I can’t believe you. This is scandalous. I am scandalized.”

“Tip of the iceberg, David Rose.” Patrick grinned behind the cup as he took a drink.

That was an iceberg David couldn’t wait to explore. “What else do you have in there?”

Patrick pulled out a small pastry box. “Dessert, of course.” He flipped the lid and angled it for David to read. He gasped.

“Day 1?”

Patrick shrugged as though he hadn’t turned David’s world upside-down. “Day one of us.”

David swallowed the lump in his throat. Patrick’s sincerity would be the death of him. “Good thing I accepted your date offer otherwise that would have been awkward.”

“I don’t even want to think about you saying no.”

David grabbed Patrick’s hand. “Me neither.” Maybe the sincerity wasn’t so bad.

“It’s a chocolate espresso torte.” Patrick unfolded the sides of the box and pulled paper plates and utensils from the picnic basket.

“How did that not melt in your car?”

“There’s an ice pack in there.”

“Is that why you left early? To set this up?” 

Patrick’s pale skin flushed pink from his neck to the tips of his ears. “Yeah.”

“And you couldn’t wait until another day so you had more time to plan. Or a Saturday when we didn’t have to work the next day?” David arched an eyebrow.

“Would you like to call this off and reschedule so I have more time to _plan_?” The way Patrick teased him went straight to his dick. God, he couldn’t wait to get Patrick naked and tease him in new ways.

“No, just trying to get a sense of how badly you wanted this. Patient Patrick Brewer couldn’t wait even a day longer.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t close the store as soon as I saw Stevie’s texts,” Patrick said in a serious tone.

Oh. Okay. _That_ was a tone of voice David hadn’t heard before but he needed more of it like he needed oxygen. Please, God, let that be Patrick’s bedroom voice. “Not gonna lie. That would’ve been hot. But this is equally as hot.”

Patrick handed David a plate with a slice of torte. David closed his eyes and moaned at the bitter sweetness and moist sponge. As he opened them, he found Patrick staring at him with an open mouth. “Everything okay, Patrick?”

“Mm. Yup. Just thinking about how to get you to make that sound again.”

David dropped his fork. He wasn’t proud of it, but when one’s button-up business partner _blatantly_ flirts with sexual promise, David was lucky he didn’t faint. “Jesus Christ, Patrick. You’re telling me that you’ve been hiding a mouth like that under that mid-range denim?”

“Why, David, are you trying to see what’s in my jeans?”

David tugged his lips between his teeth and shook his head. “I think I’m going to need some time to adjust to this new side of you.”

Patrick gently knocked his foot against David’s. “I wouldn’t say it’s new. I tease you all the time, but now I have a few more things I can tease you about. That’s all.”

David huffed out a laugh. “That’s all? Right. Okay.”

In his mind, David mapped their route home to try and identify a dark road they could pull over on and make out for a while. “Can I ask you something?” He expected Patrick to wince or close off, but Patrick looked at him fondly. All openness and adoration.

“David, you can ask me anything.”

His instinct told him to keep things light, have fun, try to get some good sex before he got his heart broken. But that was before Patrick. Instinct hadn’t led him to anyone as good or as nice as Patrick. Actually, instinct had led him to Patrick. What he needed to avoid were his bad habits.

“You said your gay revelation is recent and this isn’t a phase. Thank you for saying that. I guess—“ David clasped his hands on his lap and looked down at his coffee cup like it would give him strength. “What are you looking for? With us?” His voice cracked at the end.

Patrick studied him like he was deciding how much to say.

“You can be honest. I’m not going anywhere.” As soon as he said the words, David felt a weight leave his shoulders. He was scared shitless and terrified that Patrick would realize he’d made a mistake a week or a month from now, but David knew he had to try. No one had ever seen him like Patrick did every day. He needed to try to hold on to that. Hold on to how Patrick makes him feel.

Patrick squared his shoulders. “What am I looking for?” He let out a laugh. “Everything? I’m pretty sure I fell for you the day you walked into Ray’s. And as I’ve gotten to know you, my feelings for you, and interest in you, keeps growing. No one has made me feel like you do.” Patrick shrugged. “I feel like myself for the first time in my life, and I need to see where this goes. I love working with you, but it’s not enough. I want more. If you’ll have me.”

David released a breath. “That’s quite a speech.”

“It’s how I feel. How do you feel?” Patrick’s whiskey-brown eyes smiled at him. Could eyes smile? If anyone’s eyes could, it was Patrick’s. Everything about his body language screamed safety and warmth. If David couldn’t be honest with Patrick, he couldn’t with anyone. He had to try.

“I feel perplexed by you.”

Patrick frowned. “Okay?” He looked confused, but patient. Ready for whatever David would throw at him. The same patience he had when David went on a tirade about labels applied at an angle or when he freaked out about Patrick swapping the lip balms with mints or when David ranted about Bob’s incessant questions for Gwen because who the fuck is Gwen?

David spun one of his rings. “I don’t know what you see in me. I’ve only recently accepted that you actually believe in the idea of the store, but I know you do,” he rushed to say before Patrick could argue. “I know you like me, even though I don’t know why, because I feel it. I feel better when I’m around you. I feel smart and capable. I feel safe. I feel okay to be myself. You don’t ever seem annoyed by my anxieties or eccentricities or demands, but almost charmed by them?” His hands began speaking in the space around him as much as his mouth by the end. “I don’t get it, but I like it.”

Patrick jumped up from his bench and he rushed over to straddle David’s bench and face him. “David.” He whispered his name like a prayer.

David raised his body enough to turn and straddle the bench facing Patrick. “Hi,” he whispered.

Patrick crowded into David’s space and cupped his face. “Hi.”

“That, um, didn’t scare you off?”

“David, if your insistence on cutting ties with the candle vendor because they tried to push the patchouli-pineapple scene on you didn’t scare me away, you opening up to me isn’t going to. When I say I’m all in, I mean it. I want to see where this goes. I’m not pushing for any labels you aren’t comfortable with, and I’m going to need to go slow on the physical stuff at first, but I’m ready for whatever you’ll give me.”

Hearing Patrick say he needed to go slow on something eased even more weight from David’s shoulders. David knew he’d need concessions from Patrick, particularly on the emotional side of things as he learned to be more open with someone. Knowing Patrick needed something from him helped him feel like they were balanced. Balanced in this like they balanced each other in business and friendship.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

David nodded. “Yeah.”

“Can I kiss you now?”

David placed his hands over Patrick’s as they still cupped his face. “Please.”

Patrick’s lips were a revelation. Soft, insistent, slotting perfectly against his own. David’s skin tingled at every point of contact between their bodies. Lips, hands, knees, feet. He pulled back before he went too far like grabbing Patrick’s thick thighs or shoving his tongue down his throat. He’d never had a chaste kiss light him up from the inside like that, but he shouldn’t be surprised by yet another way Patrick made him feel incredible.

“Wow.”

David breathed out a laugh. “Can I test something?”

Patrick dropped his hands onto David’s thighs and oh. His dick perked right up at that. “I endorse scientific inquiry.”

Dork. David would honor Patrick’s request to go slow like solemn vow, so he wrapped one hand around the back of Patrick’s neck. He kissed Patrick with lips closed, but he had to make sure the sparks weren’t a one-off. A release of pressure in a valve after months of tension. Nope. Definitely not a one-off. The simple act of touching Patrick’s lips with his own had David’s heart thudding dangerously in his chest.

“Yup. Wow. Okay.”

“Why haven’t we been doing this all along?”

David chuckled. “Because we’re stupid, but at least we got here in the end.”

“I didn’t take you for an optimist, David Rose.”

“Don’t get used to it. I’m hopped up on kisses and torte and cheap wine. My sensibilities can’t be trusted.”

“Hey, David?”

“Yes, Patrick.” He couldn’t stop his grin.

“Do you have plans on Saturday?”

Patrick had been vulnerable and said what he wanted and how he felt. What did David want? He wanted Patrick. All of Patrick. As much as he could handle and as much as Patrick would give. Most of his adult life had been spent acting coy or defensively stopping people from getting too close so they couldn’t hurt him. “I was hoping to spend the evening with my, um, boyfriend, if he’s free.”

Patrick’s eyes lit up like he’d gotten keys to Santa’s workshop. So fucking adorable. “He’s definitely free. A date with his boyfriend is exactly what he was hoping for.”

“Well, boyfriend, can we cool it with the heavy talk and get back to this torte?”

Patrick laughed as he pressed a kiss against David’s cheek. “I’d never get between my boyfriend and a torte.”

David bit his lower lip. Patrick Brewer was his boyfriend. That prospect had featured in his daydreams, night dreams, deepest fantasies, and now it was reality.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm over on Tumblr at [lisamc-21](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/lisamc-21).


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